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Tax Break Passes 5-4

The Bremerton City Council
voted 5-4 Wednesday in favor of a
tax break for developers of multi-family condos within
downtown, and eventually for other areas designated “city
centers.”

Some council members, namely Mike Shepherd and Wendy Priest, called
for more planning of downtown before encouraging development. They
also questioned whether the break was needed. The majority was
convinced the tax break now, rather than later, would better keep
downtown’s momentum going. And they said enough design guidelines
and other zoning codes were in place to make sure the city gets the
kind of development it wants.

To answer one question here, waterfront properties would not be
eligible for this, because the theory is those properties don’t
need the incentive of an exemption. The area chosen is being
considered a place to “test” the ordinance, according to Council
President Cecil McConnell and City Councilman Brad Gehring.

Prior to the council deliberations 11 members of the public
testified on the measure. They were 5-5 on the issue. The one
person who didn’t say whether she was for or against it was Helen
Miller, who I would bet was against it. KAPO’s Vivian Henderson was
the first one up and characterized it as unfair to people who’ve
been paying their property taxes for years.

Before it went to the council I listed the council members in my
notebook and tried to guess how they would vote. I thought it would
go 6-3 in favor of the measure, but I was wrong when I thought Brad
Gehring would vote “no” and when I thought Dianne Robinson and
Carol Arends would vote “yes.”

Over the past couple months I’ve spoken with people from Tacoma
and this week from Bellingham and they all credit the incentive
with turning around their downtowns. They may be right, but it’s an
issue you could never prove one way or the other. Tacoma
transformed and you could surmise the strategy worked, but other
elements were in place. If a community adopts the exemption and it
doesn’t work, you can’t really blame the exemption. Certain other
things have to be going your way.

The first project Bellingham saw was a drab apartment complex
with surface parking. One person was disappointed with me that I
pointed that out in Tuesday’s story, saying real estate realities
make surface parking a poor financial decision. That may be
correct. However, Tacoma has had nine years and Bellingham seven to
look back and weigh how tthe strategy worked. Check back here in
2013.

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3 thoughts on “Tax Break Passes 5-4”

correction Steve – there are design guidelines for the Highland/Pleasant area only – the portion of the downtown core in the ‘targeted boundry’ area does NOT have design guidelines, and has had no community input.

…and while Bremerton’s City Council lines the fat cats’ pockets with generous tax incentives to develop more downtown condos, I, a modest condo owner in West Bremerton, am being asked to pay real estate taxes that rise annually by 20 percent or more. Am I, in a round-about way, paying more taxes to make the fat cats richer? I take notice that the county has not yet revealed what it is doing with its windfall revenues caused by appreciating property values…which does me no darn good, since I can’t afford to live anywhere else.

Though I can respect a difference of opinion on this issue, I am glad the measure passed. People often do not recognize the connection between the pro-active use of planning and economic development tools and the relative vibrancy of their community. A vibrant community with a high quality of life seldom simply happens. It takes foresight, imagination, and the willingness to take risks, one of which is the incurring of the wrath of those not called upon to make those difficult decisions. Anyway, since I don’t plan to sell the house I own in Manette, the rapid appreciation in property values only leads to more taxes to pay. I pay them willingly as part of the cost of ensuring the services that we all have come to expect from our government and yet are so easy to take for granted. I suspect, unlike rapid property value appreciation, the tax exemption for the downtown area will not even register on my tax bill. I do think, however, its effect will eventually register in two interconnected places – the City’s coffers (as a result of increased tax revenues from spending in new shops, etc.) and the added quality of life that the continued revitalization of downtown will bring.